Sharing My Sacred Space

November 1st 2008 we moved house, as many of you know. One of the last rooms in the old house to be packed up was the room housing my personal altar, jokingly referred to as my Craft room by the family. Since everything was coming down and would be completely different at the new house, I thought it would be nice to share with my friends here on Gather this personal space that meant so much to me...

This lovely pentacle and knotwork wall hanging covered the door to my sacred space...

and this is the open doorway hung with grape vines, as seen from inside my room.

My family laughingly refers to my little space as my Craft room... and I have done a lot of mundane crafting here too as it is secluded enough that I won't be interrupted. Upon entering, the first thing that catches the eye is usually my Halloween decorations, which also get stored here. Interestingly enough, this shot captured quite a few orbs as well.

To the left rest our Kate's school project from a few years back, a paper mache totem pole... All Teachers are welcome here, even if they are missing an ear or a wing. :) Depicted here are Bear, Fox, Deer, Raven, Coyote, Eagle, Horse, Chipmunk and Wolf.

Here is the main area as it appears from the doorway... An Owl kite spreads her wings over my altar, offering her protection and reminding me of her many lessons... In the left foreground you can see my Book, referred to as a Grimoire or Book of Shadows by most practioners. The largest section in mine is my Herbal... information on the uses of, magical and medicinal, of various herbs and plants as recipes I have used. My book also contains a great deal of poetry, personal experiences, ceremonial structure, and resources. A collage celebrating the sacred feminine adorns the front and another celebrating the sacred masculine adorns the back.

The staff to the right was a gift from a special Tree friend. Beneath my altar are my boxes containing things like feathers and smudge fans, books, tools like my mortars and pestles, and various ingrediants like braids of sweet grass or bundles of sage. To the extreme left is one of the few items I was able to carry out of my childhood, a very special doll... I keep her here to remind me of my inner child, and to honor the joyful innocence and wisdom known only in childhood...

 Buddha Frog adorns the corner shelf where I keep some of my jars and vials of ingrediants like a specific gum plant found only in South Dakota or my Dragon's Blood resin, as well as empty vials and jars waiting to hold incense, bath salts or medicines... I made him a symbolic World Tree to sit under and a serene blue mica pond to reflect upon. His smiling face always cheers me.

The center of my altar contains my pewter plate brimming with stones, acorns, glass pebbles, and bits of sage. You can just make out some prayer ties stretched across the top of the plate, and resting upon the plate are two of my favorite tools... a wand from the Tree from my first Sundance and a Deer antler.

Keeping with the tradition that the left side is feminine and the right is masculine, my goblet and various items that remind me of the sacred feminine adorn the left side of the main section of my altar... a golden frog, white horses, a white and blue dog, a basket of flowers and some sea shells at this time.

 To the right, Treebeard, one of my favorite "Green Men", a candle holder depicting Coyote and another wand gifted to me by the same Tree friend who gave me the staff.

 This tiered table allowed me to display more items and tools to either side. On the right, another Green Man, a dish containing my incense charcoal, my Dragonfly lantern holding my candleholder that depicts Kokopelli, my two pestles, a pair of black-handled scissors that acted as athame on many occasions, some matches and my last offering, a green carnation.

 To the left, a basket of shells, my sea salt container, two turtles, and a dish with things like flower petals, a little faerie statue, stars and moons, as well as Victoria, my doll from childhood.

The shelves below contain more candles, holders, boxes and tools like my green mortar in which I make things like incense...

And my white mortar and pestle in which I make things meant to be taken internally, like teas or medicines.

My Craft room is where I do a great deal of my magical work, meditating and ceremonies. It is where I go when I need a safe haven, a moment of calm or silence hidden away from others. There is usually a smaller altar set up in the living room to keep me mindful of daily intentions or to honor gifts of feathers, leaves and stones that find me on any given day. I've found that the rest of the family will also bring things to this table, although they seldom mention it directly.

While moving, an impromptu altar formed after this table had been cleared! My husband's hand drum, my basket of feathers and cedar, our Winter Solstice wreath, one of my notebooks, my leaf bowl with the pendant my daughter made in school ( it depicts Bear, Butterfly, Cat and Owl), a stray recorder and my Summer Solstice incense all found there way onto this table... I couldn't help smiling and snapping a shot before I packed it all up.

Many of my personal customs and habits have always been done in a quiet way and on my own. In fact, I never realized how quiet until the day we finally had enough space that I could claim a whole room for my Craft room. My husband's eyes were puzzled as he looked at all I had set up so happily. He asked me, "Why this sudden interest in all things Pagan?" LOL "Where have you been?" I replied. "These are things I've done my entire life. Just because you are noticing them for the first time doesn't make it sudden, dear."

Until that moment, I never realized that we could hide pieces of our selves without even trying... even very important pieces. This is when I began keeping an Intentions altar where everyone could access it, and worked at being more vocal about this part of myself. I've been delighted with the quiet and individualistic spiritual blossoming of each of our family members. I hope you've enjoyed this intimate look at the sacred spaces of our old home, and I hope you enjoy celebrating your own spirituality as much as we do.